BP seeks to keep scientific research and data "closed off" to the public

[nashville_brook]

BP launches effort to control scientific research of oil disaster
If BP has its way, important scientific research and data could be closed off to the public.


Foreign oil giant BP is on a spending spree, buying Gulf Coast scientists for its private contractor army. Scientists from Louisiana State University, Mississippi State University, and Texas A&M have "signed contracts with BP to work on their behalf in the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) process" that determines how much ecological damage the Gulf of Mexico region is suffering from BP's toxic black tide. The contract, the Mobile Press-Register has learned, "prohibits the scientists from publishing their research, sharing it with other scientists, or speaking about the data that they collect for at least the next three years." Bob Shipp, head of marine sciences at the University of South Alabama -- whose entire department BP wished to hire -- refused to sign over their integrity to the corporate criminal:

We told them there was no way we would agree to any kind of restrictions on the data we collect. It was pretty clear we wouldn't be hearing from them again after that. We didn't like the perception of the university representing BP in any fashion.

The lucrative $250-an-hour deal "buys silence," said Robert Wiygul, an Ocean Springs environmental lawyer who analyzed the contract. "It makes me feel like they were more interested in making sure we couldn't testify against them than in having us testify for them," said George Crozier, head of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, who was approached by BP. These efforts to buy silence and cooperation come in addition to the $500 million Gulf Research Initiative, a Tobacco Institute-like program managed by a panel picked by BP to disburse scientific research grants in the coming years. Louisiana State University, University of Florida's Florida Institute of Oceanography, and Mississippi State University's Northern Gulf Institute have already accepted $10 million each.

In contrast, the federal government has failed to coordinate the massive research program needed to save the Gulf, preventing academic researchers from observing the data collected by the NRDA teams that include both government and BP contractors. "The science is already suffering," Richard Shaw, associate dean of Louisiana State University's School of the Coast and Environment said. "The government needs to come through with funding for the universities. They are letting go of the most important group of scientists, the ones who study the Gulf."

[tabatha]

1. It is not their gulf.

[gateley]

2. I hope Eric Holder is getting all this stuff for his case against them. nt

[nashville_brook]

3. here's a HuffPo article on the criminal probe...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-m-silver/the-controversy-surroundi_b_651805.html



The Controversy Surrounding the Criminal Probe into the Gulf Oil Spill

Charles M. Silver and Susan Klein
Posted: July 19, 2010 05:46 PM

Now that oil is no longer pouring into the Gulf, everyone can breathe easier --except the people responsible for the spill. They may go to prison. The Justice Department has a criminal investigation underway. Admittedly, governmental investigations of business torts are more likely to result in fines than prison time.

Joseph Hazelwood, who captained the Exxon Valdez when it ran aground, was the only person indicted in connection with that accident and he was sentenced to community service after being convicted on a misdemeanor charge.

The BP spill is different, of course. Eleven people died when the Deepwater Horizon caught fire, and the environmental damage is unprecedented. The feds may reasonably decide that the magnitude of the catastrophe requires a high profile criminal prosecution, the same conclusion President Bush's Justice Department reached in the wake of the Enron debacle. Still, if history provides any guidance, years will pass before anyone is indicted and few people, if any, will spend much time in prison.

We know that a criminal investigation is underway because Eric Holder, the Attorney General, has said so many times. He first announced it at a press conference on June 1. Since then, he has commented on it and clarified its scope, emphasizing that BP is not the only potential target.

Both for launching the investigation and discussing it openly, Holder has taken serious heat. Initially, political opponents of the Obama Administration contended that the investigation diverted BP's attention from its efforts to plug the well and deal with the consequences of the spill. The merits of this allegation never were clear. Even before the probe was acknowledged, BP's managers knew the EPA would punish the company severely. The reputational damage and civil consequences flowing from the spill were also known to be enormous.

BP's executives must also have expected a criminal investigation. In 2007, the company pled guilty to felony violations of the Clean Water Act after a refinery outside Houston, Texas exploded, killing 15, injuring 170, and ultimately saddling BP with $373 million in criminal and civil fines.

(snip -- much more at link)

[gateley]

4. Thanks!! nt

[Bluebear]

5. kick